Passchendaele
Passchendaele© BeerTourism.com
The Brewery
Emelgem (Izegem)
8870
West Flanders, Belgium
+32 (0) 51 33 51 60
Beer Style
Belgian Special Blond Ale
The Beer
Passchendaele is one of the more recent additions to the extensive range offered by Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck. This beer was brewed in collaboration with the 'Memorial Museum' in Zonnebeke and 'Genootschap Passchendaele 1917'.
After a year’s brewery testing this beer was introduced in the early spring of 2013. It revealed itself to be a light, high fermentation beer but with a really quite modest alcohol content. This in itself is exceptional and emphases the idiosyncratic character of the brewery.
To ensure that memories of the Great War and the Battle of Passchendaele remain alive, some of the the revenue generated is to be donated to the municipality of Zonnebeke to help maintain their memorials. This is also the brewery’s way of remembering all those who lost their lives.
The beer was developed and intended to be as close as is possible to what soldiers would have drunk during the war.
Alcohol
5.2 % ABV
Fermentation
Top-fermentation, filtered, pasteurised and centrifuged.
Ingredients
This beer harks back to the basic ingredients in use at the time: malt, (Belgian) hops, yeast and water.
Colour & Transparency
Very clear and transparent beer. Golden blonde colour with a nice white frothy head.
Serving Temperature
6 °C / 42.8 °F
Serving Glass
For this unique beer, the glass selected is very far removed from that normally used for Belgian beers. It was decided to serve Passchendaele in an English pint glass. The glass is available in a half pint (25cl) and full pint format and comes with the official logo of the Passchendaele Society.
Character, Tastes & Aromas
As mentioned before, the idea behind this beer was to get close to the taste of beer brewed and and drunk in the region during WWI. To this end, the brewery carried out extensive research.
The outcome was a fresh thirst quencher with a zesty finish, thanks to the Belgian hops.
Culinary
This beer was not specifically designed to be a culinary or gastronomic beer, unlike the Trignac or Cuvée du Chateau.
Nevertheless, it is a perfect companion to delicate fish dishes or a summertime barbecue.
It also suits spicy dishes of Eastern origin, such as Thai, Indian curries or couscous. If you are enjoying this beer in Belgium you will find it makes a lovely pairing with two of the highlights of our national cuisine: mussels with fries or steak with fries.
Keeping and Storage
It was meant to be a fresh thirst quenching brew and this is how it should be enjoyed. The taste will not improve with storage.
Availability
Bottle ✔ On Tap ✔
Passchendaele was created with a view to the international market so it is widely available both within Belgium and far beyond its borders. Like Kasteel, exports reach as far afield as Australia.
Available in the Anglo-Saxon countries and in the front line countries of WWI.
Other Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck Beers
BrigandBrigand, the name of this golden blond regional beer, is a reference to the revolt by the peasants of Ingelmunster against the ‘sans culottes’ (French soldiers), which took place in 1798 in nearby Hulste. Brigand is the name given ...
[ read more ]
Kasteel HoppyKasteel Hoppy is a recent addition to the Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck Kasteel range. It was launched in 2013 in response to the trend for more hopped beers. This is a high fermentation blond beer, rich in hops, and thanks to th ...
[ read more ]
St. Louis Premium PecheSt. Louis Premium Peche is a lambiek blend, based on a traditionally brewed gueuze lambiek with the addition of sugar and peach juice. This fruit beer has the lowest alcohol content of any beer in the St. Louis range and, by exte ...
[ read more ]
Cuvée du ChateauDe Cuvée du Chateau is the crown jewel within the Kasteel range and has been brewed since 2010. It found its inspiration in the subterranean cellars of Ingelmunster Castle. After ten years of maturation, bottles of Kasteel Donke ...
[ read more ]
St. Louis Premium FramboiseSt. Louis Premium Framboise is a fruit beer based on traditional geuze lambiek. During the brewing process 25% juice is added, produced from Willamette raspberries. Before the St. Louis Premium range saw the light in 2001 (to tak ...
[ read more ]
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